History could come to life

Harriet Tubman may be on verge of recognition

Harriet Tubman, (1820-1913) was born in Dorchester County, escaped slavery in 1849 and helped many escape through the Underground Railroad. A historical park commemoriating her life and the places she lived, worshiped and carried out her mission is proposed for Maryland's Eastern Shore.

A bill introduced by Maryland Sens. Ben Cardin and Barbara Mikulski, along with New York Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, would authorize establishment of two new national parks in honor of the life and work of Harriet Tubman, an escaped slave from Dorchester County who led hundreds of African-Americans northward to freedom along the Underground Railroad.

In Maryland, this park would encompass portions of Dorchester, Caroline and Talbot counties, occupying land where Tubman risked her life during her early years to help others achieve the freedom she herself had found. The New York portion would focus on her later years, when she was active in the women's suffrage movement as well as helping to provide for the welfare of aging African-Americans.

March 10 will mark the 100th anniversary of Tubman's death in Auburn, N.Y.

Here on the Eastern Shore, visitors to the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park would be able to visit Tubman's likely place of birth, a plantation where she worked as a young girl, another plantation where as a teenager she worked as a seamstress and the location of one of the first "safe houses" along the Underground Railroad, all in Dorchester County. In Caroline County, visitors could see portions of the plantation from which Tubman escaped slavery in 1849.

A park of this size and stature has great potential to boost tourism and all the benefits that come from those extra dollars spent on dining, lodging and money or spent at other nearby tourist destinations.

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History could come to life

A bill introduced by Maryland Sens. Ben Cardin and Barbara Mikulski, along with New York Sens.